My article on this year’s World Tea Expo has been published on the English Tea Store Blog. Here’s an excerpt:

One highlight among the vast sea of exhibitors on the Expo floor was the Taiwan Pavilion, where Thomas Shu and his wife Josephine Pan [of ABC Tea] hosted tastings and demonstrations. They were aided by their compatriots in the Taiwanese tea industry and at one of the tastings I attended, by Bill Waddington of Tea Source, who waxed poetically about the special Taiwanese varietal developed in Taiwan in the ’80s named Ruby18. A few lucky visitors to the booth were also given the rare opportunity to hear Thomas Shu sing Hakka songs during the course of his presentations, one of which was about Baozhong (Pouchong).

The photo below shows Sunny Tang brewing oolong at the Taiwan Pavilion during this year’s Expo.

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Events, Taiwan | 1 Comment »

A little over a year ago I started a tea company called Phoenix Tea Shop. I worked on sourcing good teas and products during the subsequent months (along with branding and building the websites), and managed to find a lot of great connections and opportunities.

But I never really wanted to tackle this project single-handedly. I wanted someone to work with me to build the business and help define what it would grow into.

A little over a month ago I saw a glimmer of an opportunity when Brett Boynton of Black Dragon Tea Bar announced that after nearly a decade as manager of The Teacup, he was unemployed. So I approached him with the idea of partnering with me in the tea business. We met, we plotted, we schemed – and now I am very pleased to announce that Brett is co-owner of Phoenix Tea.

We have a lot of very exciting ideas in the works, and you’ll be hearing more about them as things progress (although I will continue to ensure that commerce does not interfere with Gongfu Girl blog content, so don’t worry about that). If you want to keep up with us, follow the Phoenix Tea House blog, which is where we’ll put all of the business related news and information. You can also keep up with us on our Facebook page.

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• Chado: The Way of Tea, at ArtXchange
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• World Tea Expo 2011

Events, Local Establishments | 3 Comments »

The following three weekends in the greater Seattle area hold opportunities to experience the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland-themed theater in a park setting. Read my article on Examiner.com for details about Theater Simple‘s “WONDERLAND: Alice Adventures”.

The image above is related only thematically to the upcoming theatrical performances in parks. It is a still from the first cinematic adaptation of Lewis Caroll’s fanciful tale, a 12-minute distillation called – like most film adaptations – Alice in Wonderland (unlike the book itself, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”).

The silent film, released in 1903 and directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, captures the historical milieu of the original book in a way that more contemporary adaptations can not. There is only one known print of the film in existence, but fortunately we can watch the film online:

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England | 1 Comment »

A few months ago, I won a sampler of four Thunderbolt Darjeeling teas on the Thunderbolt Tea Facebook page. What lucky fun! I drink a lot of tea, but until recently I’ve mostly been a stranger to Darjeeling.

All of the teas in the sampler are lovely when made correctly, and I was surprised to find how each rewarded at least 3 infusions, yielding an attractive and tasty brew each time. The cow skull is optional, but a distinctive aesthetic touch.

Margaret’s Hope Silver Moon (2010 Second Flush):
Subtle but full of flavor with a nice acerbic edge, smooth.

Singbulli White Jade 2010:
The first time I made this tea, I failed utterly. I used what a quick Google search suggested was the standard Darjeeling method: about one teaspoon per cup, steeped for three minutes with boiling water. This way, I achieved a pretty but nearly tasteless liquor. After a little advice from Benoy Thapa (of Thunderbolt), I managed to produce a very nice tea. Steeped at about 180 degrees for 5 minutes, using about a tablespoon of leaf per cup, it brews up a nice honey brown, with a full slightly woodsy aroma and sweet subtle flavor. Later, I made this tea in a gaiwan, again with cool water, and was greeted on the first infusion with an extremely pleasant burst of dried apricot flavor and aroma; two more delicious infusions followed before the bitterness overtook the deliciousness.

Arya FTGFOP1 Autumn Flush 2009:
This is my favorite of the four. It shares with the others a taste and texture that I’d now call “a character of classic Darjeeling,” but then as I swallow there is a burst of flavor at the back of the tongue that is just delightful.

Arya Diamond Second Flush 2010: This is a good, seemingly classic tea, perhaps the smoothest of the bunch. It doesn’t have, and doesn’t really need, any interesting or unusual flavor notes.

I’m not likely to make Darjeeling my mainstay as a result of these, but tasting them–and interacting with the Thunderbolt staff–was a lovely experience.

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Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

The topic for this month’s Tea Blog Carnival, sponsored by the Association of Tea Bloggers, was “select a specific type of tea and write about how you brew it.” The following is a list of the contributions from member bloggers.

Black Dragon Tea Bar: “Blueberry Tisane”

Chadao Europe: “How do I brew shu puerh using a gaiwan”

Gongfu Girl: “How I generally brew shu pu’er”

Life In Teacup: “ATB Blog Carnival – Milk Tea… Tea Milk…”

Tea Pages: “Itty Bitty Bao Zhong”

That Pour Girl: “Tea Blog Carnival No. 8″

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Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

My contribution to this month’s ATB-sponsored Tea Blog Carnival is on the topic of my general methods for brewing shu (cooked) pu’er.

The steps and the accoutrements:

1. I almost always use Crystal Geyser spring water for shu pu’er (and other teas). It’s affordable and works just as well or better with tea as some of the more expensive spring waters I’ve tried.
2. When brewing shu pu’er I always use the Kamjove electric water kettle for heating the water to boiling.



3. I generally brew at the tea table with the small, blue-green Yixing teapot that has been dedicated to brewing only shu pu’er teas. It is quite small and works perfectly.



4. I use boiling water and rinse the leaves with a very short initial infusion that also serves to warm the cups and pitcher (fair cup).
5. The first drinkable infusion is about 1 minute long.
6. I almost always use a glass serving pitcher (fair cup) because I like to be able to see the rich oranges and reds of the pu’er tea liquor, especially when there’s light coming through it.



7. The cups vary more than the teapot, but the cups I use most often with pu’er are the unglazed plain Yixing cups. They’re small, thin and very nice to drink from.



8. The number of subsequent infusions varies depending on what a particular tea is able to yield, but it’s generally at least 5, and each one is usually also about a minute, but sometimes longer if the tea seems to need more infusion time.

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China, Gongfu Cha, Pu'erh Tea | 6 Comments »

Sometimes teas seem to come to me thematically, with several examples from a certain category from different sources all ariving in sequence. One example of this is that over the past couple of months I have had at least six different batches of Da Hong Pao, all from different vendors, which is something of an embarrassment of riches, but has led to an even deeper appreciation of this fantastically elegant tea and how much it varies.

In my opinion, such a reputable tea needs to be accompanied by preparation vessels and tools that match up with its elegance, so a few weeks ago I acquired the teapot in the accompanying photographs below for the explicit purpose of using it only for Da Hong Pao. I have a different Yixing Gongfu set that I had been using for all types of WuYi Oolongs, but I decided that Da Hong Pao needed its own teapot, and that it ought to be one that was more regal in appearance.

I looked at several teapots, but this was the one that I really liked the look of much better than any of the others. It was also the one that felt the best in my hand. I was told that Da Hong Pao would need a teapot with a broad surface area, and the shape of this one is ideal.

I seasoned the vessel with a small amount of one of the slightly lower grade Da Hong Pao teas that I had, and a few days later the teapot was performing perfectly on the tea table, brewing really well, and looking quite wonderful, especially when the tea was drying rapidly on its surface as it steeped the tea.

As an aside, I don’t know if it’s the time of day or the change in the atmospheric conditions due to the onset of Spring, or perhaps even the shape of the teapot, but the most recent tea session of Da Hong Pao (a very lovely example from Canton Tea Company) resulted in a very impressive display of steam in and around all of the tea objects. Of course, it would not be out of the question that I simply became fixated on steam for a time and thus paid more than the usual amount of attention to it.

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China, Gongfu Cha, Oolong Tea, Paraphernalia | 4 Comments »

Last weekend I had the great fortune to find and acquire this perfect and beautiful ceramic pu’er storage vessel. Of course I have no idea whether the talented clay artist who made this piece intended for it to be used to store tea, but it is undeniable that he or she modeled it after traditional Chinese storage vessels.

The thing has a number of excellent qualities, including very thick walls and solid construction. It does have a minor chip on the edge of the lip, but it is not prominently visible, especially when the lid is on, and the vessel should not seal since it’s being used for pu’er anyway, so that’s not an issue.

After I bought it and brought it home I scrubbed it out thoroughly and then aired it out in the fortuitous brief period of sun that we had last weekend. It did not have any odors clinging to the inside part of the clay anyway, which was good. I don’t think that it had ever been used for storing anything with a strong, lingering scent.

I broke up one of the Xiaguan shu pu’er cakes into fairly large chunks and now they are occupying this very nice container. The remarkable thing about this excellent storage container is that I found it in a thrift store and paid less than $10 for it!

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China, Paraphernalia, Pu'erh Tea | 4 Comments »

Don’t these teas look delicious? This is Canton Tea Company’s newly arrived Spring Collection. From the press release:

Our first crop of four spring teas has arrived and they are every bit as good as we hoped. Fresh of course, naturally sweet and distinctive, each one goes beyond our expectations.

Mao Jian is made up of soft, curly, tippy leaves, a higher grade and even better than last year. A refreshing, light easy-drinking green.

Xue Ya or Snow Buds are bright, sappy and seriously moreish. Once steeped, unfurl the perfect tips and nibble the soft green buds.

Bai Lin Gong Fu made from the same long curly buds as the Wild White but fully oxidised into this caramel smooth black tea.

Ye Sheng or Wild White is a tea to remember with an unusual provenance – so read on.

New to Canton Tea co for 2011, we are the only people in the UK (or probably anywhere outside China) to have this Wild White. It is a glorious, limited edition tea with a great story.

The tea bushes were found growing wild on an ex-government tea farm in Fujian that had been abandoned many years ago. Our producer recognised the potential in the farm, the naturally healthy tea bushes, the excellent terroir and particularly the yellowy, rocky soil – perfect for giving the tea a delicious mineral note. He bought up the estate and produced this great tea from the first, small harvest of all the tea bushes that had been left wild and untouched, allowed to return to their natural state.

Of course the output is not huge, so this is a rare Wild White tea with a beautiful mix of long silvery buds and young leaves. It is an ideal all-day, summer tea, very soft on the palate with a creamy depth and a satisfying full-bodied, warm fruity note, lifted by the mildest hint of flint (from that excellent ground).

Canton Tea is offering readers a special discount of 50% off of the sampler of the spring collection, which contains all four of the teas. Use code SPRING2011 at checkout.

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China | 1 Comment »

On the Sunday of the inaugural weekend of the Infusions show at SLAB Art in Ballard, a few exceptionally fortunate tea aficionados had the rare opportunity to participate in a round of tea tastings hosted by artists using their own teaware.

The arrangement of the show displays all of the teaware pieces exceptionally well, most of them laid out on the beautiful pure slabs of gorgeous wood that have been transformed into tables by the talented artisans at SLAB Art. The inner perimeter of the gallery space is lined with slices of some of the most luxurious woods, adding to the rich atmosphere of the space.

Of the four exhibiting artists – Richard Brandt, Geo Lastomirsky, Tina Pepa, and Christopher Shaw – all but Ms. Pepa were on hand for the tastings. Both Brandt and Shaw produce teawares designed for Gongfu Cha, and are connoisseurs of the leaf as well as its brewing and serving implements.

There was a delightful array of teas donated to the event by Shiuwen Tai of Floating Leaves Tea, and Brett Boynton of Black Dragon Tea Bar. The teas consisted primarily of Taiwanese oolongs, but also included a Da Hong Pao and an intriguing Organic Hong Cha from Taiwan. Also, instigated by a conversation with Chris Shaw about aged sencha the previous evening, I provided a Kuradashi Sencha, which brewed excellently (and beautifully) in one of his stoneware pots.

During the first session of tastings I was able to observe the initiation of Richard Brandt’s Wind Moon teapot as it was introduced first to a lightly oxidized Alishan and then to a darker roasted Dong Ding, put through the paces of a Taiwanese Phoenix Mountain Oolong and finally used for the Taiwanese black tea. The transformation was quite something to watch, as the surface of the teapot darkened, speckled, and acquired spidery dark streaks along its front.

The tastings, held over a leisurely four hours, took place in the lower back part of the gallery space as well as in the upstairs exhibition loft, split between the two hosts, Shaw and Brandt. I can say with confidence that all of the participants had an excellent time, including the artists themselves.

Although the opportunity to taste teas in these lovely wares has passed, you can still stop into SLAB Art and view the teawares available for sale this Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and 3rd and the following weekend. The entire body of work in the show is impressive and varied, and all of the pieces look like objects one would want to hold and use. Even Geo Lastomirsky’s exquisite pieces, kindly on loan from Paccini Lubel Gallery, have a wonderful look to them which can be imagined heightened by a bath of tea liquor.

Photographs, from top to bottom:
Christopher Shaw, taken by Chris
Richard Brandt, taken by Chris
downstairs tasting with Christopher Shaw’s teaware, taken by Cinnabar
upstairs tasting with Richard Brandt’s teaware, taken by Chris

View more photos from the show on my Flickr page and in the Gongfu Girl Flickr Group.

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• How I generally brew shu pu’er

Gongfu Cha, Local Establishments, Paraphernalia | 6 Comments »